Tuesday, February 24, 1998Last modified at 11:33 p.m. on Monday, February 23, 1998

Judge drops weapon charges against men with anthrax

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Two men arrested in an anthrax scare were cleared Monday of all biological weapon charges, but one still faced new allegations of probation violation on a conviction for buying bubonic plague bacteria by mail.

Federal prosecutors withdrew felony charges against William Leavitt Jr. and Larry Wayne Harris, who each had faced counts of conspiracy to possess and possessing a biological material for use as a weapon.

"It's over. It's done. I want to get in with my life," Leavitt, 47, told a news conference before entering the downtown federal court building.

Judge Roger L. Hunt signed papers clearing Harris; similar papers for Leavitt were being drawn up.

Harris' attorney, Michael Kennedy, said, "He feels elated."

Leavitt, who has no criminal record, was a free man. But Harris, 46, remained jailed on a new charge filed in Ohio that he violated terms of his probation for a 1995 conviction on illegally ordering bubonic plague bacteria by mail.

Harris was scheduled to return to federal court in Las Vegas today for a hearing on the new charges.

It was unknown whether prosecutors would file reduced charges against Harris, as an FBI agent in Ohio had said would probably be done.

"I can't read their minds, but it doesn't sound like what a U.S. attorney would do," Kennedy said.

Neither the defense attorney for Leavitt nor Harris said they believed the FBI overreacted given the evidence agents thought they had.

"I would be the last person to say there should be anything cast upon them," said Kennedy. "I don't think they overreacted. ... They had to act quickly."